Now Playing - The Movie Review Podcast

I obviously haven’t listened to the entirety of the catalog here (there’s over 1000 episodes) but of the episodes I have listened I’ve always walked away stimulated. There hasn’t been a time that I haven’t completely disagreed with everything they have to say. I may disagree with the hosts individually (Stewart hates Shang Chi…are you nuts?!) or (Arnie recommended Batman Forever but gave a strong not recommend to Batman Begins…huh?) but they express their points in such a way that if I do end up disagreeing I don’t think they’re unintelligent. This is a very smart podcast for those who are interested in film.

I’m a huge music fan and never really got into movies, probably because I barely had TV growing up. This podcast has tipped me off to movies I ended up really liking but may not have otherwise watched, like Thief, Rumblefish, The Batman and Drive. It has also helped me become an adequate conversationalist with movie buffs (seems like every other other person is one!) I’ve tried other movie podcasts to listen to at work but it seems like other movie pods always start with a heavy dose of of blabbing, non-movie related personal stories, and aren’t edited very tightly. Now Playing has a clean structure they always follow that puts the movie as the top priority. The editing is always really tight and professional, no hiss and dead air. The hosts are all good at talking about anything at all (it’s a talent!) and have good chemistry because they’ve known each other a long time. Even if someone pays them a bunch of money to review a movie, they aren’t afraid to give honest opinions, and I feel like they’re always aware that opinions aren’t objective facts, and opinions will differ based on age and what you want out of art or entertainment. I think the first episodes I listened to were them tearing apart the Silent Hill franchise; the skewering they gave it was off putting, but after getting a larger sample size of their reviews I’ve heard them champion underdog movies (not the Underdog franchise though!) and find interesting, modern points of criticism in classics. I have a signed copy of the Now Playing book, am a monthly supporter, and I always look forward to the next review. Unless it’s of a Stephen King property, how are those still being spawned?

It’s laughable these guys are squeezing people for $10 a month to get the paywall content. You can get streaming services like P+ for that money.

Long time financial supporter. Inspired me to start my own movie pod. Smart fun and honest. I actually rarely agree with the hosts, but I appreciate their challenges and perspectives on movies I love. They also really love their listeners and have given us a seat at the table for a long time. Love NP!